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IDAHO FALLS — After a week-long trial, a jury found Mark Bent guilty of first-degree murder.
Bent, 43, was convicted of murdering Nikolas Todd Bird on Sept. 3, 2022, and initially pleaded not guilty. Bent was also convicted of using a deadly weapon in commission of a felony.
Shortly after the shooting, Bent reportedly admitted to the killing on Facebook. This was a key part of Bonneville County deputy prosecutor Steven Haderlie's closing arguments.
"My main goal was to kill Nik Bird," Haderlie quoted from Bent's Facebook post. "I tried to talk myself out of it. I followed through with said plans. You never know when someone is going to decide to do something about it, like me."
Haderlie said the post was published on Sept. 3, 2022, at 10:31 p.m. — minutes after the shooting.
Bent sent his parents a similar Facebook message.
"Mom and Dad, I'm really sorry to tell you this, but I have just committed murder of someone in the car scene here that was involved with slandering and threatening me and I'm either going to jail for the rest of my life or going to commit suicide," the message read.
According to Haderlie, Bird's autopsy showed that the angles of the bullet wounds suggest that Bent shot Bird while Bird lay on the ground.
On Friday, Bent testified that he "blacked out" during the shooting.
Haderlie told the jury the alleged blackout was not mentioned in Bent's conversation with his parents, his father's 911 call or the Facebook post.
But in these instances, along with a phone call to his dad and his testimony in court, Haderlie noted Bent confessed to the murder five times.
A portion of the Facebook post read, "I told myself that if anything were to happen to my job, I will go after him (Bird). Unfortunately for him and his friends, I lost my job recently, so I followed said plans."
Haderlie mentioned that Bent lost his job when other employees quit and he had to work more hours than he wanted, so he quit.
"How is Nik Bird involved in that at all?" Haderlie asked the jury.
Defense's closing statements
Bent's defense attorney, Serhiy Stavynskyy, said there were discrepancies in the times that events took place and criticized the state for bringing Bent's father as a witness.
Stavynskyy argued the state failed to prove the murder was premeditated, which is a requirement for first-degree murder convictions.
"He (Bent) has a dashcam in his truck that records every single moment of his driving. He has a phone on him. He drives around. He calls the police and tells them what happened. This is not a premeditation case, and the state hasn't shown anything to indicate that," Stavynskyy said.
Prosecutor Randy Neal argued that Bent would not have driven to Idaho Falls to visit the friends from the car club who had been harassing him, of whom he was afraid. He also reminded the jury that Bent testified that he looked up Bird's address, and driving to his neighborhood was not happenstance.
"My main goal was to kill Nik Bird and I just coincidentally did during a blackout," Neal said of Bent's testimony.
Bent's sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 10. He is facing life imprisonment, under Idaho law.
